👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Dads and breastfeeding: how to involve your partner?

When we think of breastfeeding, we often think of an exclusive mother-baby relationship. Yet the second parent, often the father, has an essential role to play in this very special moment. Support, logistics, emotional cocooning: breastfeeding can (and should!) be a shared experience 🤝

Here are 6 simple and powerful ways to involve your partner during the breastfeeding period 💛

💬 1. Listen (even if you don't understand the milk flow) 😅)

Breastfeeding can be physical, emotional, sometimes painful or discouraging. The partner's first role is to listen, without judgment.

🎧 Just be there, hear the doubts, the tiredness, the joys too.
🙌 Encourage, without putting pressure.
💞 And remind every day, "You're doing an amazing job."

☕ 2. Create a cocoon environment

When Mom settles down to breastfeed, Dad (or another parent) can :

• Bring a glass of water or herbal tea 🌿
• Adjust cushions or lighting
• Managing seniors or distractions

🎀 It's in these small gestures that a true emotional co-allaitance is born: one nourishes, the other surrounds.

🧺 3. Taking over the daily routine

If mom feeds, the partner can take care of :

• Dishes, laundry, meals
• Diapers, baby's bath 🛁
• Organizing appointments and outings

⚖️ This rebalances the load and allows mom to devote herself fully to breastfeeding, without becoming exhausted.

📚 4. Training together (and not just "letting it happen").

Breastfeeding is a learning experience for everyone. The partner can :

• Read articles, follow support accounts
• Asking questions at the postnatal consultation
• Participate in breastfeeding workshops whenever possible

💬 O ne simple sentence changes everything: "Do you want us to look for a solution together?"

👶 5. Creating your own bond with baby

Breastfeeding doesn't mean that mom is the only one to bond. The partner can :

• Carrying baby in a sling 🧣
• Talk to it, massage it, cradle it
• Give him a bath or sing him a song

🎵 These moments are precious for baby... and for the other parent, who feels fully involved.

💞 6. Support too... if breastfeeding stops

Sometimes breastfeeding doesn't go as planned. It's important for your partner to be unconditionally supportive, whether breastfeeding lasts two weeks or two years.

❤️ The choice to breastfeed (or not) is not a failure or a success, it's an adventure. And it deserves to be lived together, whatever happens.

🧡 A team adventure

Breastfeeding can be an intimate act... but it's also a matter for the couple, the family, the team.
When the partner is present, committed and supportive, mom feels stronger, more listened to, more confident. And baby feels it too 👶

At 23 Mai Pariswe believe in the power of the parental duo. In the bonds forged in the details of everyday life. And to love always 💫